Economic Integration and Political Cooperation Between South Korea and China: Implications for Korea-US Relations

South Korea has traditionally maintained close ties with the United States, especially for external security, while more recently it has become closer to China, mainly for economic reasons. In this article we examine whether growing economic ties between South Korea and China promote their cooperation and common policy preferences and simultaneously weaken Korea–US relations. We examine the voting congruence of South Korea and China in the United Nations General Assembly between 1991 and 2012 and find no clear evidence that economic integration promotes congruence. Rather, South Korea's policy preferences are usually determined by independent consideration of issues.